1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless devices equipped to receive textual messages, and particularly to a method and system for interactively filtering textual messages pushed to wireless devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication devices, which are becoming ubiquitous, typically take such forms as mobile telephones, palmtop personal data assistants (PDAs), portable computers equipped with wireless modems, etc. Such devices may connect to the public wireless network and thus are able to contact telephone devices globally. Such devices may also be equipped with short-range RF communication capability, such as a capability conforming to the Bluetooth specification, and may then communicate with other such devices that are nearby, typically within a range of about 10 meters.
A typical wireless device includes a processor, a random-access memory (RAM), a display screen, a keyboard or at least a keypad, and signaling means for alerting the user. The keyboard or keypad may be integrated with the display, such as in a xe2x80x9ctouch screenxe2x80x9d display.
Advertisers have seized the opportunity to send unsolicited advertising messages to such devices. This has come to be known as xe2x80x9cpushingxe2x80x9d of message content, as opposed to sending content a user has requested, or xe2x80x9cpulledxe2x80x9d. An excessive volume of pushed content can become an annoyance to a user, perhaps the most egregious example being the occurrence of xe2x80x9cspamxe2x80x9d on the Internet. A user with a Bluetooth-capable mobile terminal walking through a shopping mall, for example, may be deluged with a stream of advertising messages from business establishments in the shopping mall. Although he has the option of switching off the mobile terminal and thus ignoring all the pushed messages, some of them may of genuine interest to him or her. There is thus a need to filter messages pushed to a user of a wireless device.
A step toward filtering pushed messages is given in International Patent Application WO 99/35778, filed by Microsoft Corporation and published Jul. 15, 1999. A user of a wireless device enters filter data, which is stored in the device. An incoming message may contain filter bytes in its header, which are compared with the stored filter data. If no match is detected, the message is not accepted into the wireless device. This has the drawback that if a user has allowed filter data that is no longer relevant to remain stored in the wireless device, he is unaware of incoming messages that do not match the filter data, even though such messages might be of current interest. There is thus a need to have an interactive filtering system to alert the user to incoming messages that are of particular interest while not precluding the user from receiving any incoming messages that may have some significance to him or her.
To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a system, apparatus and method for screening messages that are received on a mobile terminal communicating within a wireless network.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention is provided a method for receiving information on a mobile terminal, the method comprising: maintaining filter data indicative of information a mobile terminal user is desirous of viewing; receiving an information message including at least data indicative of the nature of the information message, displaying at least a portion of the information message; performing a comparison; and providing a sensible indication to the mobile terminal user if predetermined criteria between the information message data and the filter data are met within the comparison.
Another embodiment of the invention is a mobile terminal comprising: a processor; an input device connected to the processor; a storage device connected to the processor for storing at least filter data indicative of information a mobile terminal user is desirous of viewing; a receiver connected to the processor for receiving an information message including at least data indicative of the nature of the information message; a display connected to the processor for displaying at least a portion of the information message; and filter software operative on the processor for: directing to the display at least a portion of the information message; performing a comparison between the data of the information message received from the receiver and the filter data stored on the storage device; and causing an indication sensible by the mobile terminal user if predetermined criteria between the information message data and the filter data are met within the comparison.
Another embodiment of the invention is a system in a mobile terminal for identifying matches between received information message and information a mobile terminal is desirous of viewing, the system comprising: a processor; a storage device; a display; and software means operative on the processor for: maintaining in the storage device a database of keywords identifying information a mobile terminal user is currently desirous of viewing; displaying at least a portion of the received information message; scanning the received information message to find matches between the received information message and the keywords stored in the storage device; providing a sensible indication to the mobile terminal user if predetermined criteria between the information message data and the keywords are met.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.